Lexington, Ohio – Juncos Racing walked about victorious again with rookie Rinus VeeKay this past weekend at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Teammate Robert Megennis picked up two podiums in Rounds 12 and 13 of the Pro Mazda Championship.
The weekend kicked off with promoter test day three sessions on Thursday on the 2.258 mile, 13-Turn road course. Practice began Friday, followed by one qualifying session and a second qualifying session Saturday.
Qualifying for Round 12 was very close amoung the highly competive Pro Mazda drivers. Dutchman Rinus VeeKay driving the No. 2 Jumbo/Juncos Racing car captured the pole. Brazilian Carlos Cunha driving the No. 1 CarlosCunha.com.br/Juncos Racing car qualified fourth and American Robert Megennis qualified fifth.
Qualifying for Round 13 continued the following day. VeeKay almost picked up the pole, but would settle the second qualifying spot. Megennis followed just behind taking the third qualifying position and Cunha would start fifth.
Round 12 of the Pro Mazda Championship went green to checkered for the 25-lap race. Veekay dominated the entire race, leading every lap and setting the fastest lap of the race. Teammate Megennis charged made his way from fifth to third, to earn a spot on the podium. Cunha finished just off the podium in fourth place.
Round 13 had its share of ups and downs for the Juncos Racing Pro Mazda line up. Durning the first lap Cunha suffered damage to the front wing, forcing him to pit on the second lap for a new front wing. Cunha would go on to finish in the back of the field due to a mechancial faliure with only three laps to go. Megennis drove his way to a second place finish, while VeeKay would go on to claim the win. VeeKay’s win made it his fourth win in a row. Juncos Racing also earned the Top-3 fastest laps of the race with Megennis setting the fastest lap, followed by VeeKay setting the second fastest lap, and despite his tough luck Cunha was able to set the third fastest lap.
Team Principle Ricard Juncos said, “This was a big weekend for our Pro Mazda team. The entire team worked so hard together to make sure these drivers had the fastest cars on track. Rinus (VeeKay) did an outstanding job winning both rounds, earning a pole, and now he leads the championship. Robert (Megennis) had two great races as well, taking two podium finishes for the team. Carlos (Cunha) had a great first race, just missing the podium. The last race of the weekend did not fair as well as he had to end the race early due to a mechanical failure, but he was able to set the third fastest lap of the race. The speed was there for our team this weekend. Rinus set the fastest lap in the first race and Megennis set the fastest lap in the second race. I am thrilled with the overall results. We will continue to stay focused and keep our heads down as we go into the final three rounds of the championship. I want to send a huge thank you to our crew for their conitnued hard work. These guys put in a lot of hours, and even this weekend stayed one evening until after midnight to fix an issue discovered after qualfying. These guys are dedicated and I could not thank them enough for their time.”
Juncos Racing now leads both the Pro Mazda Team Championship and Driver Championship with three rounds to go.
Driver Quotes:
Carlos Cunha No. 1 CarlosCunha.com.br/Juncos Racing: “It was a hard weekend for me. It’s a track which I like a lot, but unfortunately wasn’t where I expected to finish. We had to fight through some issues, but we had a great pace throughout the weekend. I need to say thank you to all of the Juncos crew for all of their hard work. Now it’s time to focus and be ready for the next race at Gateway.”
Rinus VeeKay No. 2 Jumbo/Juncos Racing: “Qualifying 1, I got the pole. We made some great changes and the car felt amazing. In the second qualifying conditions changed a lot and I had the second quickest time. In Race 1 I started on the Pole and won the race. I led every lap and set the quickest lap of the race. The second race, I started second and stayed there until the driver running P1 had a mechanical failure. I got passed him and brought home a win. The car was amazing all weekend. I want to thank Juncos Racing with all of the work they put into the car. I also want to thank my sponsors Jumbo and La Place for the support this season.”
Robert Megennis No. 9 Palo Alto Networks/Juncos Racing: “Overall, we had a great weekend. We qualified well, with fifth and third. In Race 1, I had a really good start. I was able to go from fifth to third in turn one. We had a fantastic race car. In Race 2 I started third and I held my spot on the start and then kept the catching Rinus lap after lap. The driver who was running in first, ended up with a mechanical problem and so we ended up moving up to second. I was catching up to Rinus again but I couldn’t get past him . Juncos Racing gave me an amazing car all weekend, I can’t thank them enough. I also want to thank Palo Alto Networks for getting me here. This is my best finish of the year. I am super happy with it, and I am hoping to take this momentum to Gateway.”
The 2018 Pro Mazda Championship continues August 24-25 with Rounds 14 at Gateway Motorsports Park for their second oval competition of the season.